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Taking this conversation down a different road, how is everyone going to use these favorite points?

Some of my favorite caches are now archived, would you "waste" one of your favorite points on an archived cache so that you could have a list of your favorite caches, or would you only use them for active caches, so that other people could look for active caches you declare as a favorite?

Yes I favorite also archived caches of course.

Originally Posted by brdad

Most of my favorite caches are great caches, so it makes it easy to favorite those. However, some of my favorite caches might have been mundane if not for conditions not connected to the cache, such as weather, people you were with, special day, etc.. It seems labeling these as a favorite is correct, but they may not necessarily be one I'd recommend to others?

You are supposed to label caches YOU LIKED, not you would recommend.

Originally Posted by brdad

I know it's just a word, but "recommended" might have been a better word to use than favorite. It sounds by definition gc.com intended this system to show recommended caches.

Now you are contradicting yourself. To WHO would you recommend the cache? Everybody likes different things there is no such thing as recommended for general audience. You would need to pick a list of cachers you think they would like the cache. Having a list of caches you would recommend has no use in general, however having list of caches you liked has a good use. Just label caches you liked and let algorithms to do the job for individual recommendations.

If these labels are going to make it to the PQs I will build a recommendation engine later if they don't.

Now you are contradicting yourself. To WHO would you recommend the cache? Everybody likes different things there is no such thing as recommended for general audience. You would need to pick a list of cachers you think they would like the cache. Having a list of caches you would recommend has no use in general, however having list of caches you liked has a good use. Just label caches you liked and let algorithms to do the job for individual recommendations.

I agree with this for the most part, unfortunately gc.com contradicts itself as well as seen in these snippets from the web site:

Geocaching Favorites is a simple way to track and share the caches that you enjoyed the most. For every 10 distinct caches that you have found, you will be able to Favorite 1 exceptional cache in your find history. The Favorites accumulated by a cache are displayed in search results and on the cache page so everyone can see which caches stand above the rest.

Geocaching Favorites is a simple way to track and share the caches that you enjoyed the most.

What does it mean when people say a cache is a Favorite cache?
A Favorite can mean many different things. It could mean that the location is interesting or unusual in some way, or that the hiding place or cache container itself reflects the creativity of the cache owner. The one thing you can say for certain is that the overall quality of the cache is likely to be above average.

I had a great time at a geocaching event recently. Can I Favorite the cache?
Since the point of Favorites is to recommend great caching experiences to others, it doesn't really make sense to spend a Favorite point on an event which has already taken place. For this reason Event Caches do not accept the awarding of Favorite Points. Be sure to tell the event host how much you enjoyed the event in your cache log.

The statement Since the point of Favorites is to recommend great caching experiences to others sure would make one think favorites are designed to be recommended caches, yet the other statements suggest otherwise. It is odd they feel you should not favorite an event that has already taken place, yet feel it is quite ok to favorite an archived cache!

Originally Posted by cano

If these labels are going to make it to the PQs I will build a recommendation engine later if they don't.

I have not read where they will be added to PQs, but it might be nice to see which ones have been added.

Well what I have done...

Not that anyone cares of course. I have started to mark caches that I thought were special to me. Great views, great paddles, great hikes, great company. Milestones were some of them too. Hard to remember back as to the names on some. Yes I will mark some as favorites even though they are archived. Ones that I mark today may be archived tomorrow so that is not important. You are able to "un"favorite a cache so you can make a different one a favorite at a later date. I have way more points to award then I have great caches to give them too I'm afraid so I will likely always have a surplus.

Sigh......... I'm remembering the day when geocaching was simple and fun, when I went out to find caches only to discover a place I had never seen before, a waterfall, a mountain top, etc. It was liesurely, got me outdoors....real quality time. 99.9% alone quality time. Now we have caches with homing becons, we have geo games that only a graduate from MIT could figure out, and now this "earning points." I'm getting VERY weary of it all. I have a decision to make.....

Sigh......... I'm remembering the day when geocaching was simple and fun, when I went out to find caches only to discover a place I had never seen before, a waterfall, a mountain top, etc. It was liesurely, got me outdoors....real quality time. 99.9% alone quality time. Now we have caches with homing becons, we have geo games that only a graduate from MIT could figure out, and now this "earning points." I'm getting VERY weary of it all. I have a decision to make.....

You've probably heard me sing a similar song as long as you have been caching. And the first thing you'll hear is if you don't like it, don't do it - unfortunately there is no good way to filter for caches you would like. What I have started doing is focusing on the early caches - I plan our trips on mostly caches placed in or before 2003. I sometimes include newer ones in my GPS in case we want to do a few extra, but the main goal is the older ones. I also maintain a list of caches friends have recommended. In a worst case situation, you could always get PQs of only early caches and pretend these high-tech new ones are not even there.

I really don't care about points and the other features introduced recently. I am interested in just getting out for a few fun caches whether they be a hike, to new places or seeing things and places out of the ordinary. However, nothing in business can stay static.....and Groundspeak is a business.....so changes/improvements/features will happen. Thankfully, I can choose how I enjoy this activity, like every other cacher.

Everyone has the right to be an idiot at times. Just don't abuse the privilege.